ROH All Star Extravaganza 6 (6/9/14) Review

Added 11/09/2014 by Marc Goldberg

Ring of Honor was live on iPPV on the 6th September 2014 for All Star Extravaganza 6, the event was hosted from Toronto where the main events were billed as Michael Elgin defending the Ring of Honor World Title against the man who hasn’t been pinned in 2 years in singles competition, Jay Briscoe. The next main event was the final chapter in a feud which really showed the world that tag team wrestling was still alive and well, The Young Bucks looks to regain the ROH World Tag Team Championships from reDRagon in a 2 out of 3 falls match and finally, the match Ring of Honor fans have been waiting years to see, Adam Cole takes on the IWGP World Champion, AJ Styles.

The show started with Jay Lethal, Truth Martini & Seleziya making their way to the ring, they discuss ACH not being able to make the show for their scheduled match. Cedric Alexander makes his way to the ring to discuss how his opponent, originally Silas Young, wasn’t able to make it and since he pinned Jay Lethal a few weeks back, he deserves a TV Title shot. Lethal at first refuses but after some insults by Cedric he accepts the match. Things eventually get out of hand and the segment ends with Jay Lethal accidentally superkicking Seleziya.

Great start to the show, interesting to see Cedric vs Lethal and I’m guessing that this match will lead into a triple threat match for the TV Title with ACH added into the mix somewhere down the line.
Segment Rating: 3/5

Mark Briscoe vs Hanson

The match started off with Hanson getting the early advantage and was able to show off his athleticism and hit a beautiful dive on Mark to the outside. Mark Briscoe finally manages to get some offense in and show off his martial arts and once again hit a great Cactus Jack elbow on the outside. The match ended with Mark Briscoe hitting the Froggy Bow on Hansons back after Hanson had missed the moonsault – Winner: Mark Briscoe

Decent opening match, I feel Mark is very under rated in terms of singles wrestlers go and Hanson really got a chance to shine in this match.
Match Rating: 3/5

Tommaso Ciampa suddenly came in the ring and was desperately trying to apologise to Bobby Cruze whom he had issues with which led to Ciampa being suspended. Eventually Ciampas microphone was cut off and was escorted through the crowd but eventually left on his own accord.

This was a four corner tag match which was basically designed to liven the crowd up a bit which contained lots of high flying spots and basically show off some of the newer talent such as Moose.

The highlights of the match included R.D. Evans standing on Moose’s shoulders and hitting a splash on the outside. Moose even hit a somersault on the outside which is very impressive for a guy his size. Owens and Alexander really impressed me with their double team maneuvers which are really fun to watch for example Alexander hit a Blue Thunder Bomb while Page hit a dive to the outside. But as the match got out of hand, it was R.D. Evans who managed to cradle Owens for the win, so THE STREAK STILL LIVES – Winner: R.D. Evans & Moose

Decent match, the streak still lives and everyone got a chance to shine.
Match Rating: 2.75/5

This match is what you would expect from these two teams, but the standout star of this match was Kazarian. The story of the match was The Decade double teaming Kazarian for the majority of the match until Daniels got the hot tag and managed to fight the Decade off with clotheslines and hit a nice blue thunder bomb but only got a two count. The match ended with The Addiciton hitting a release back suplex into a double knee.

After the match Roderick Strong was about to hit Adam Page because Roderick shaked hands with The Addiction and Adam wasn’t fond of it and BJ Whitmer stood up for Page, luckily Jacobs managed to settle everything and keep peace between The Decade –
Winners: The Addiction

Decent match, fans of Ring of Honor know who Daniels is so it was nice of them to see what Kazarian can do (though they should already), I like that Roderick Strong teased a face turn and I’m interested in where this goes.
Match Rating: 3/5

The Dream Match: IWGP World Champion AJ Styles vs Adam Cole

This match certainly had a big fight feel to it which is exactly what ROH wanted due to the promo Adam Cole cut earlier about how he has nothing to lose. The match started off pretty slow with Cole slamming AJ pretty hard into the mat and even started to work over the knee of AJ. During the match they botched Adam Cole putting a figure four on AJ around the ring post and the fans started to chant “You ****** up” so Cole decided to put the figure four on AJ around the ring post, this time correctly.
The fans were mostly behind AJ in this match and to his credit, he really sold this knee injury. Once the action got back into the ring AJ managed to get some momentum back and eventually hit Cole with a beautiful 450 splash, unfortunately he wasn’t able to make the cover due to his knee. Eventually AJ managed to the Styles Clash and went for the cover but Cole was able to put his foot on the rope.

Cole eventually was able to come back and hit a nice Florida Key in the middle of the ring, but Styles just barely managed to kick out which led to Cole almost hitting the referee due to how frustrated he was. Cole hit a bicycle kick, AJ reversed with an enzugiri, Cole hit a superkick and finally AJ hit the pele but Cole fell on top of Styles for another close two count. After some back and forth and after AJ was going for a superplex, he altered it into a Bloody Sunday off the second turnbuckle on Cole and got the 123.

After the match AJ celebrated and prepared to leave but decided to return to shake Coles hand, Cole refused and spat at AJs feet, AJ decided to pose to the crowd one more time before leaving, thus ending the first half of the show – Winner: AJ Styles
All I can say is WOW, match of the year candidate easily and I really can’t wait to see the rematch.
Match Rating: 5/5

Michael Bennett & Maria Kanellis Segment

Basically the whole point of the segment was that Maria has announced that Matt is coming back and to reveal that Jay Briscoes World Title has now been made into the title of love. They were about to consummate the title until Mark Briscoe ran out and told them that Jay see’s what they’ve done with his belt, it’s Bennett’s ass

Didn’t really like the segment but it was needed as I felt the whole situation with Jay Briscoes World Title was staring to be forgot about.
Segment Rating: 2/5

ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal (w/Truth Martini) vs Cedric Alexander

The match started Cedric and Jay fighting on the outside, Cedric is chopping away at Lethal and they finally bring the action back in the ring and Cedric hits a bodyslam and knee drop. Lethal manages to come back with some chops and connects with a suplex and then hits him with a triangle dropkick to send Alexander to the outside and Lethal hits a nice suicide dive.
The match is brought back in the ring but Cedric gains control with a dropkick and keeps his momentum going until the ref gets distracted with allowed Truth to hit Cedric with the Book of Truth (I seriously want to buy that book). Lethal gets back in control and even starts posing with Cedric while Truth took a picture with his phone but Cedric managed to avoid this and Cedric managed to become in control of the match. Cedric hit the Three Amigos (RIP Eddie Guerrero) and the crowd starts chanting “Eddie”, Lethal manages to catch Cedric after he went to the top rope and locks him in the Koji Clutch but Cedric gets to the ropes. Lethal then signalled for the Lethal Injection but decided to hit the Lethal Combo for a near-fall. Lethal then pretended to go for a sharpshooter but then changed it to a Sweet Chin Music, Cedric reversed this and managed to get a near fall on Lethal.

The ending came when Seleziya came back out to interfere but Lethal accidentally drop kicked her and Cedric used this distraction to hit the Lumbar Check but Lethal got his foot on the rope. Lethal managed to eventually hit Matt Taven’s finisher, The Climax and then hit the Lethal Injection for the win – Winner and still TV Champion Jay Lethal

Alexander continues to impress and even though he lost, he still looked strong in defeat and him and Jay Lethal both have really bright futures in Ring of Honor.
Match Rating: 4/5

ROH World Heavyweight Champion Michael Elgin vs Jay Briscoe

The match started with Briscoe hitting furious strikes on Elgin, you can just tell Jay is ready for war, Elgin eventually came back and started dominating Jay and started ramming him hard into the barricades and nailing Jay with some furious strikes of his own. Elgin started using his strength and his agility to dominate Jay for the majority of the match, even hitting him with a somersault leg drop from the second rope while Jay was draped over the ring ropes. Elgin even used the sharpshooter in this match but Jay made the rope and then the fight took to the ring apron. Jay managed to hit the J-Driller off the apron through the table, “holy shit” chants were chanted and it really was that sort of moment, Jay manages to lift Elgins lifeless body in the ring but somehow Elgin manages to kick out. Jay starts punching Elgin and the commentators are shouting at Jay to his finishing move again as he’s wasting too much time. Elgin manages to hit a back fist and he hits a bucklebomb and he sets up for the Elgin bomb, Jay manages to counter and hit the J-Driller to secure the three count and everyone in the arena, including Jay, is stunned that we now have a new World Champion – Winner and new World Champion Jay Briscoe

Great match, really surprised Jay won this but in my view it was the right decision, Elgin is a guy who’s better at chasing the belt than he is actually holding the belt and I really hope this sets up for a Michael Elgin heel turn.
Match Rating: 4/5

The match starts off quick with both teams getting into a brawl at ringside with The Bucks sending The Dragons into the barricades. O’Reilly eventually pulled a hockey stick out of nowhere to help take control of the match briefly but The Bucks came back quickly and hit their double-team neckbreaker/gutbuster. Eventually Matt was driven to the outside but Nick still managed to hold his own against reDRagon but eventually Kyle cracked the hockey stick on Nick when the referee was distracted and then reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon to secure the first fall.

The second fall started off straight away with reDRagon in control, but eventually Nick managed to get the hot tag to Matt. Matt came in crazy with the offense on both Dragons, the action eventually got taken to the outside where after some offense, The Bucks were going for the Indytaker but Nick was pulled off the apron. The Dragons hit a nice running knee strike/Regal-plex combo on Matt for a close 2 count. Nick eventually re-entered the ring and after dishing out some superkicks, they were eventually able to hit Bobby Fish with The Indytaker on the outside. After hitting Kyle with a pair of superkicks, they brought Fish back into the ring and, I couldn’t believe this, Matt got Bobby up for the package piledriver and Nick hit the superkick on Fish while the piledriver was being delivered. The Bucks win the fall after this awesome move.

The third fall begins and O’Reilly finally gets back in the ring, he eventually takes out The Bucks and manages to lock Matt in an armbar, Matt eventually countered this into a roll up for a close 2 count but O’Reilly caught Matt and put him into a guillotine choke. Eventually Nick saves his partner by hitting a 450 splash on Kyle and The Bucks connected with The Meltzer Driver (you need to see this move, it’s insane, it’s a springboard 450 spike piledriver you need to see it to believe it) but the referee was pulled out the ring before the 3 count. The match ended when Fish and Matt took a nasty bump onto a table and Kyle grabbed Nick and locked in the cross armbar while holding his leg and Nick eventually taps out for the third fall – Winners and still tag team champions, reDRagon

These two teams continue to steal the show each time they go against each other and I don’t know how they do it but each match seems to be better than the last and it really shows how much faith ROH have in these two teams to have them close the show over Elgin defending the title in his home town.
Match rating: 5/5

After the match Tommaso Ciampa ran back down to the ring and laid out both The Young Bucks and then began to dismantle the ring. He pulled the mats back and hung Nick up on the top rope before driving him down with a neckbeaker onto the boards. The show ended with Nigel call for help.

All in all every match delivered, you had 2 match of the year candidates on this match card along with a great world title and I was entertained throughout and this event definitely exceeded my expectations and the ending was great and I’m really interested in where they go with Tommaso Ciampa.